Elsa's Descent
by DFP2019
Summary: An AU saga, set in the 21st century, that explores three different phases of the tragic life of Elsa. In the first, her joyful world collapses, and she suffers from depression. In the second, she goes down a dark, evil path that tests the limits of Anna's loyalty and support. In the third, she gets her ice powers. Rated M for language and for mature themes not suited for children.
1. Contemplation

"Condemned,"

Elsa thought out loud to herself as she turned left onto the small road and drove up to Arendelle High School.

"I stand condemned."

She pulled over to a side spot which faced the school, at the right corner of the perpendicular street in front of the main entrance, the same spot where she waited every day to pick up Anna. She hoped her sister would scoot out the front door before the buses and the usual onslaught of traffic got ahead of them. That hope went double on this day, an icy, snowy Friday.

Elsa grabbed her phone to kill the 30 minutes of time she still had before classes got done. Within minutes, she opened a dozen tabs, all of them from Google searches of one word: "Depression." Her cruel conscience tormented her.

 _ _Nice work, dumbass. Why don't you sit there, burn gas you can't afford, and drink overpriced coffee you don't need, when you could be on the internet inside that computer room right now like you always are at this time of day anyway?__

She read through them all at a rapid pace. The words of self-pity in each link satiated her latest internal outburst of self-hatred. Then she got to the last one. The darkest one.

 _ _Do you seriously have that opened right now?__

Elsa sunk her head in shame. She wanted to close the tab that prompted her conscience to rebuke her.

 _ _How would Anna feel if you did that?__

The girl tightened her eyes in pain. She felt like she could explode. Anxiety washed over her.

 _ _She'd be all alone in this world and it'd be all your fault!__

*thud thud*

Elsa jumped out of her seat in panic at the sound of the loud knock against the passenger window.

"Shit. It's just Anna."

She had no idea how 30 minutes went by like that, but there Anna stood, covered up tight in her cute magenta colored winter coat. Elsa hit the screen button on her phone and unlocked the car.

"Hi Elsa!" the redheaded girl exclaimed in her usual cheery voice. She didn't even ask before she grabbed a sip of Elsa's latte.

"Ooooh, that's perfect for a day like today!" Anna said as she tossed her backpack behind her seat.

"Yeah, I guess it is," the blonde girl replied in a meek tone.

"I mean, we're in the middle of April. What is _up_ with this awful weather?" Anna wondered aloud.

Elsa sighed and looked out the drivers window as she zipped left around the curb to avoid the rush of students headed for the buses.

 _ _Cripes, she's not kidding about the weather.__

The Polar Vortex that plagued the Midwest all winter in 2014 wasn't done yet, and Elsa remembered why she dipped out of her Senior intern class to splurge on a nice hot drink. Her internship required actual work on Monday's, but the rest of the week, she spent sixth hour in the student newsroom and killed time on the computer, since no one could stop her anyway. That day, she treated herself to a relief from the latest blizzard. Until her broken conscience decided to give her hell along the way.

"Oh hey, is everything..." Anna paused mid-sentence, the tone of her voice changed from upbeat to concerned.

"….is everything okay?" she asked as they sped away. "I mean, I'm surprised to see you parked over here."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Elsa responded with sheepishness as she realized that her pity party on the phone caused her to forget to move up to the front side walk so her sister could hop right in. Elsa felt a twinge of guilt when she realized Anna had to cross the street in this icy weather.

"I found a good story to read and got distracted there, I guess," she said with half a smile.

Anna knew better by now.

"Hey, what the hell Anna!" she barked as Anna grabbed her older sister's phone from the middle dashboard and typed in in the four digit pass code. Elsa felt her breaks lock as she sped too fast through the snowy road. She couldn't stop her sister now.

Anna took one look at the screen, gave it a blank stare, and set the phone back down with an ominous slowness. She turned her head towards the passenger window and went quiet.

 _ _Well done loser! Now she knows how fucking selfish you__ really __are!__

"Anna listen, I..."

The younger girl turned her face to her, and Elsa's heart crumpled at the sight of her sister's watery blue eyes. Silence consumed the car. The only sounds came from Anna's choked up sobs and the purr of the heat as it blasted through the car vents. Instead of yet another argument, Elsa decided to bite her tongue and focus on the road. She pinned her lips together and tried to ignore the emotional pain that she knew her sister felt right now, and that Anna felt every day since Elsa came clean about her depressed state.

Anna broke the silence,

"I love you...so much, Elsa," she said with a soft sweetness that only Anna could vocalize.

Elsa almost burst into tears herself, but her extra focus on the treacherous roads stopped her. She forced out a defense of herself instead.

"Anna, look, I don't have any sort of radical plan. "

 _ _Yes you do you dirty liar. You've had a plan for a month now!__

"It's just, I feel worse and worse, and I needed to look for help is all."

 _ _Great, now she thinks her own help isn't good enough for you!__

Anna opened her mouth about to snap back, but the words escaped her. She already did the beg-and-plead routine with her big sister multiple times. She knew that Elsa hurt inside more than she let on, but now her worst fears had been confirmed.

 _ _If only she knew how much she is adored__

Anna let out another sob at the very thought. She leaned her chair all the way back, closed her eyes, and trusted that her big sister wouldn't screw up or make a stupid decision in this crazy weather.

The two girls remained silent the rest of the chilly ride home.

* * *

 _ _The secret's out now, idiot__

Elsa still couldn't believe she let that happen. She knew better than to let Anna get anywhere near her internet searches. She knew that Anna grew suspicious of her true emotional state with each week. As she lay on her bed alone in her room, her conscience berated her for the unexpected reveal of her dark secret.

 _ _She doesn't even want to look at you right now.__

That much was true. Anna didn't bother to look at Elsa as she grabbed her backpack and scooted into the house. Elsa heard her bedroom door lock from downstairs. She grabbed what remained of her coffee and walked upstairs to her own room. As she walked by her little sister's door, she heard the muffled tears into the pillow.

 _ _See? This is what you've caused. This is the pain you've unleashed!__

As Elsa replayed the events of that day in her head, a thought inside her snapped. She lept up off the bed and headed for her desktop.

"Oh good, he's available right now," she said to herself as she noticed the green dot by his name. Elsa clicked on it.

"Hi Jack," she typed. "Got a moment?"

 _ _What do you even want to accomplish right now?__

Elsa didn't have any romantic feelings for Jack. Or anyone, for that matter. But she needed someone to talk to right now, and Jack had been a good friend to her for over a year. Other than Anna, only Jack knew how hurt and wounded she felt inside, and who also cared for her.

"Sure Elsa. What's up?"

"Well, I..."

The conversation that ensued went farther than Elsa intended, and she poured out more than she knew she should. But for some reason, she felt relieved. At least someone other than Anna and frigging Hans knew what she suffered from: A sadness that crippled her, turned her conscience against her, and tormented her with cruel thoughts and insults every day. Even when she made the smallest of decisions.

"I'll tell you what," Jack said. "Can you meet at the ice cream parlor tonight?"

"The one in front of Arendelle High?" Elsa responded. The Siberia-like weather outside didn't matter to her.

"Yeah, that one. In the back parking lot behind the parlor. I'll be in my pickup truck."

Elsa knew she could trust Jack.

"Deal," she said. "Would 7:00 work?"

"Yes. See you then."

Elsa gave the yellow thumbs up. The green dot disappeared from Jack's name, and Elsa closed her browser and leaned back in her chair. She let out a sigh.

*thud thud*

"Damn it. Again?" Elsa muttered to herself as she almost fell backwards.

"Can I come in, Elsa?"

 _ _It's your sister again you coward!__

Elsa made a grimaced expression and then got up to open the door. She kept her head down, too filled with shame and regret to look her beloved sister in the eye. But to her surprise, Anna did not scold her.

"I'm sorry if my reaction in the car made you feel guilty," she said in a sincere tone

 _ _Jesus, this girl discovers that you have contemplated the most selfish deed imaginable, and yet__ she __feels sad for hurting__ your __feelings?__

This time Elsa spoke up before the guilt choked her into silence.

"I have a talk with Jack tonight," she deadpanned.

"Oh! That's...that's good!" Anna felt taken aback and didn't know what to say, but she also felt happy that her older sister had sought out help.

"Yeah, I mean, he...I don't know if he still has a crush on me or not, but I know he __almost__ cares about me as much as you do," Elsa said with a smile.

Anna smiled back, but also choked up at the same time. The sound of her own words out of her mouth caused Elsa to well up with tears too. The two girls gazed at each other. A thick cloud of sadness filled the air. It became too much for both of them, and they embraced in a big warm hug.

As they held each other, Anna let out some heartfelt words. They were similar to the words she wrote in a poem to Elsa the previous Christmas, right before this awful Polar Vortex hit.

"I'm right out here for you, Elsa. And I always will be here for you for as long as I live."

The words caused Elsa to tighten her embrace. She had become desperate to escape her pain, but she didn't want to break Anna's heart.

 _ _Oh my gosh, what am I gonna do?__


	2. Nice Sprite

__Yes! Summer has arrived!__

Excitement raced through Elsa as she darted down the halls of the high school. The ring of the final bell signaled the close of her freshman year, and she felt ready to party. Although an introverted girl by nature, she smiled and even said cheerful farewells to various classmates as she headed for the side front door. All the nerves she felt when she walked down those halls for the first time ever last September were long gone.

 _ _And Anna gets off at the same time today! Ohhh she'll be so excited when she sees you and Mom pull up!__

Elsa imagined all the fun things she would do that summer: How she had plans to take Anna out for her first birthday as a teenager next week, or the family vacation in July that her Dad hyped up all winter, or her freedom to ride her bike around Spring Lake whenever she wanted.

She burst through the side front door that all the other students avoided.

"Hey there kiddo!"

A familiar yet unexpected face beamed at her over the roof of the family car.

"Whoa, Dad?"

Elsa somehow managed to avoid a ride on the bus all year long, and she grew used to the pleasant drives to school in the morning with her Dad before he went off to work, but her Mom pretty much always picked her up. This time, Dad cut his work day short to pick up his eldest daughter.

"Here, think fast!" the man exclaimed as he flipped his wrist and tossed Elsa the car keys.

"Awww, thanks Dad, but you know I'm gonna show off now!"

"Not on my watch little girl."

Father and daughter both chuckled, and Elsa proceeded to the drivers seat. She received her drivers permit last December when she turned 15, and she relished every opportunity to get the mandatory number of hours under her belt, like on this, the final day of school.

"So nice to see you Dad!" Elsa said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. The man smiled in return.

"Yeah, I told Bill I needed to duck out early, and he understood. Now lets not be late for your sister!"

"Oh, hey, can I have one of those?" Elsa asked as her eyes wandered at the cup holder.

Elsa may have been 15, but like Anna, she still had the heart of a child.

"Of course! They're for you two, as a matter of fact. Let me get it for you. Which one, Sprite or Mountain Dew?"

"Hmm, that one."

The green soda pop can fizzed over onto her Dad's lap as he opened the can, which garnered a giggle from her.

"Pay attention to the road you brat," her Dad teased with a playful grin as he handed her the pop.

 _ _At least Anna just completed 7th grade. You should be a bit more mature than to get excited over a kids drink.__

The girl didn't even have time to ponder over the stupid, negative thought before the man interjected.

"Oh, by the way, Elsa."

"Yeah Dad?"

"Um, well, you know...next week is Anna's birthday, and uh..."

Elsa felt puzzled over his unusual lack of confidence.

"...I thought that, maybe Friday afternoon, all four of us could take a walk through Spring Lake Park and have a family picnic. Your Mom can make those delicious sandwiches that you girls love so much, and we can have those coffee flavored chocolates we bought from the Mall."

 _ _Ohhh man, that sounds wonderful, but that Friday is the movie night you and Anna have planned.__

Elsa tried to make a bargain.

"Can we do Wednesday afternoon instead? I mean, that's the actual day she turns 13 anyway, right?"

"Believe me honey, I wanted to do that too, but even to get Friday afternoon off, I promised Bill I'd cram stuff in from Monday through Thursday."

 _ _Dang, this__ has __to be one of those sister-or-parent choices__

"I'll think about, okay?" Elsa responded with an earnest smile.

The destination shifted her Dad's focus.

"Right there," he pointed. "Don't miss the street."

Elsa made a hard turn right and proceeded to pull into the junior high school, which buzzed with excited kids. Her mood shifted back to happiness.

"I see her!" Elsa said with excited angst.

"Whoa, HEY, easy!" her Dad barked as Elsa slammed on the breaks at the curb where Anna stood.

"Sorry," she said in a soft yet happy tone.

Her Dad shot her a smile back. They both motioned to Anna to sit behind him. Anna opened the door so hard she almost hit one of the kids as they ran by.

"Daddy! It's you! And Elsa, oh my gosh, you get to drive! This is so nice!"

"I know, right?! Dad knows how much this means to me," the older girl responded as she glanced at Anna with a big goofy smile. Whatever guilt she felt over her father's request had disappeared.

"Alright you two, lets get out of here!" the man said with joy.

 _ _See? He's fine. And he let you pick up Anna from school when him and Mom never let you do that because you might hit someone.__

"Oh you stinker," Anna belted.

"What?" Elsa said with a laugh.

"You know 'what.' You took my Sprite!"

"I did not!"

"Did too! You've always liked the Dew better!"

"'The Dew?' Is that what the kids call it these days?"

"Enough, ladies," their Dad said with an amused shake of the head.

"Just take your drink," Elsa beamed as she tossed the can behind her.

"I'm gonna spray you with this," Anna said with a giggle.

"Oh yeah, well I'm gonna dunk you both in the lake when we get home!" their Dad belted.

All three of them laughed, and Elsa took a swig of her pop. She looked at the can. An idea entered her head.

 _ _You get motivated by the strangest things, don't you?__

"Hey Dad, can you please grab my phone and hook the tape up to the headphone jack?"

 _ _You are such a bad tease. Anna will call you out on it.__

"Got it. Which song?"

"The first one on that playlist...right there," she pointed.

"Hey hey, eyes on the road."

Elsa bobbed her head left and right in an even motion as the song began and let herself get lost in the steady build up.

"Ha, good practical pun Elsa!" the little girl barked from the back.

Elsa smiled through the windshield mirror back at Anna and gave a head bang at the sudden base buildup.

"Wait...you're...you're rubbing it in right now, aren't you!?" Anna said as she smacked her older sister on the shoulder.

Elsa mouthed the words of the song back to Anna as the base dropped,

"YES, OH MY GOD"

 _ _You know this would be an embarrassment in any social situation, right?__

"I don't care. I'm with family," Elsa muttered to herself as she shut out her conscience. This is what she lived for, moments with her tender parents and her beloved sister where she could be herself, without shame or guilt. Her thoughts sided with her once more.

 _ _Just wait till you get your license next Christmas, then you can listen to your favorite music as loud as you want!__

Elsa grinned at the thought, and she sighed with deep content at how her most feared year of high school was behind her. She then drove home for the summer with her favorite people in the world.


	3. Movie Tradition

"So what did you think?" Elsa asked her sister as the two of them ate their post-movie burgers at the Tap.

 _ _Oh c'mon, even your ever optimistic little sister can't justify__ that __one__

"Well, uh, you know..." Anna stuttered as she struggled to come up with a response that didn't sound like a complaint.

"...at least we got to see Lightning McQueen finally win a race!"

 _ _Eh, she's not wrong about that__

"But man, that could have gone better," Anna continued. "I mean, they blew up and killed a frigging car! That...disturbed me."

"Ugh, yeah, that left a bad taste. Like, the plot twist with that one villain? So convoluted." Elsa piled on.

For the last couple summers, the two girls made a tradition to watch a new movie together for Anna's birthday. These days, that meant whatever latest classic released by Pixar. Right now, though, options were thin, as Elsa discovered a few days earlier when she perused the available films:

 _ _KFP is a worthy sequel, but we saw that already on Memorial Day.__

 _ _Blackbeard is a decent villain, but we don't want to see a crippled Captain Barbossa and his pathetic limp again.__

 _ _It's not worth the price just to look at Ryan Reynolds.__

 _ _Ha, we're never__ not __calling that "The Dark__ Side __of the Moon"__

"Gosh dang it, why can't we fast forward to July right now so we can see 'Deathly Hollows 2?'" Elsa thought out loud to herself as she settled on the film that she falsely assumed to be Pixar's first sequel. They celebrated Anna's 13th birthday in less than excited fashion.

"Yeah, that plot twist was super weird," Anna responded. "But hey, I still had fun with you. I always do," the younger girl said with a smile.

Her older sister sensed that as an attempt to defuse the negativity of their talk.

"Oh, you don't mean that," Elsa teased with a flap of the hand.

"Let's be honest: I should have picked a different movie. I made a dumb choice."

Anna looked down at her plate with a forlorn expression.

 _ _Oh great, first Dad feels hurt today, now her?__

"No, I'm serious Elsa. We don't spend as much time together anymore, and I like that you still do this for me on my birthday every year."

A wad of ketchup fell from Elsa's mouth as she stared at the girl in stunned silence. She swallowed her bite and yammered out an incredulous response.

"Wuh...what do you mean by that?"

Elsa felt confused and worried. True, the older girl had reached the age where she felt okay by herself without company, but she never perceived that they had grown apart, or that they didn't have fun together anymore. Besides, she thought they still spent plenty of quality time together on nights such as this one.

"What I mean is, I've noticed you go to bed early most nights, even though we're on summer vacation, and when I knock on your door to see if you want to play..."

 _ _She knows we're both teenagers now, right?__

"...or, I should say, when I see if you want to hang out downstairs or outside..."

 _ _That's more like it__

Elsa interrupted her with a quick question.

"Did Dad tell you what happened today before he dropped us off?"

"Um, no. Why?"

Elsa let out a sigh as she felt a twinge of guilt hit her.

"I ask because I wondered if he gave you the whole 'Don't be selfish like your big sister' pep talk."

"Whoa whoa, you're way too hard on yourself. He didn't say that, and he doesn't feel bad that we skipped the walk in the woods today. He knew that tonight we had our movie plans, and he's okay with that."

Elsa didn't feel convinced, but she figured she'd deal with Dad later. Right now, she wanted to know why Anna felt shut out.

"Forget I asked that then. But I'm...I'm confused, Anna. The LAST thing I'd ever do is shut you out of my life."

 _ _Jeez, the negativity of the movie talk is much more preferable to whatever this is__

"Oh trust me, I know you would never do that, and this is not an accusation. But...sometimes I feel lonely, and I remember when we were kids, I'd knock on your door and ask if you wanted to play whenever I felt that way. And you would always say 'Yes.'"

The blonde girl gave a blank stare.

"But I know I can't expect you to say 'Yes' every single time, so when we do hang out, I want you to know that I always have fun, and it becomes a cherished memory," Anna concluded with a big smile.

Elsa now felt guilt-stricken. Earlier in the day, her Dad put on a good act when he said he didn't mind that they settled for the picnic by Spring Lake with the sandwiches and the chocolates. They skipped the walk in the woods because it conflicted with the movie-and-dinner arrangements that the two girls already planned for Friday.

But then she felt the stir of her conscience, which told her to move on.

 _ _You can't please everyone at once. Dad knows that this has become a yearly tradition, and you have all summer to take another walk with him__

"What did you say about the feeling of loneliness?" Elsa asked after a moment of awkward silence. Anna seemed to brush it off.

"Oh I don't know, probably 'adolescent angst' or whatever Mom says."

The redhead girl's face turned serious again.

"But, if we could maybe spend more time together this summer, that would be nice. Next year I'll be in 8th grade, and than high school after that, and well, I feel a bit scared, I guess."

 _ _She wants her big sister to be there for her__

Elsa grabbed her hand from across the table.

 _ _She needs to know you''ll protect her__

The older girl sighed and then gave her the best reassurance she could think of.

"Believe me Anna, I know how scary the world feels when you enter that phase of life, but I promise you'll get through this."

Elsa could feel the warmth that washed over Anna in response to her words. She continued.

"I didn't think I'd survive freshman year, and well, here I am: 15 and still alive." Both girls chuckled.

"But, I can see that you need a friend right now, so here's what I'll do: Every night, I'll tell you when I'm about to go to bed, and if you need to talk, or chill downstairs, or even take a quick walk around the block, I'll hold off the sleep and spend time with you. I don't ever want you to feel alone."

And with that, she let go of her little sister's hand.

 _ _You might make her cry in public__

Anna felt her eyes grow misty, but she kept her composure. She felt overwhelmed with gratitude and thanks that her big sister made that promise, and in the back of her mind, she committed herself to hold Elsa to it.

The two girls exchanged an affectionate look. Neither of them wanted to embarrass themselves at the restaurant by saying out loud, 'I Love You.'

*bzzzzzzt*

The text notification on Elsa's phone rattled the table and startled them both.

"It's Mom. She wants to know if we're ready to be picked up yet."

"Gosh, I can't wait for you you to get your license this December! Then we won't have to worry about this."

"Oh, they'll still bug us if the sun is down and we're not home yet. Guaranteed."

"Yeah, but what are they gonna do about it anyway?"

Elsa let out a sheepish laugh as she realized how rebellious her sister liked to be sometimes.

"That's true, and they also won't be able to turn down the volume when we listen to our music in the car as loud as we want!" Elsa affirmed.

* * *

"Hey you two! Did you enjoy the movie?" their mother asked as they hopped in the back of the car.

"Eh, it was alright," Anna replied with a shrug.

"It sucked," Elsa replied in a blunt and honest tone.

"Wow, that's a first," their mother replied. "What made this one so bad?"

Elsa and Anna both looked at each other with exasperated expressions. Neither one of them wanted to rehash the plot.

"Mom, please, can we listen to music now?" Elsa asked.

"Oh, sure! I'm sorry that neither of you enjoyed the movie. You had a good time at dinner though, right?" she asked with a concern in her voice.

"Dinner was wonderful!" Anna belted out with cheerfulness.

 _ _She loves you so much. Please don't ever break that__

As they sped away on the road, Elsa primed her next song on her phone and plugged in the tape upfront. All three moved their heads back and forth.

"At least we'll always have this one!" Anna shouted.

"California, here we come!" Elsa imitated.

"Dinoco, here we come!" Anna imitated back.

 _Through all these cities and all these towns_

 _It's in my blood and it's all around_

 _I love you now like I loved you then_

 _This is the road and these are the hands_

Their mother peered through the dashboard window to her two daughters in the backseat. She smiled and sighed with content as she watched both girls jam their heads with their eyes closed.

 _There's no load I can't hold_

R _oad so rough this I know_

 _I'll be there when the light comes in_

J _ust tell 'em we're survivors_

"They are both happy," she thought to herself as she drove away into the night. "And that's all that matters."


	4. Vacation Sneaking

"Anna."

 _ _She didn't hear you.__

"Anna! Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

The redheaded girl let out a chuckle as she laid on her side.

"Stop imitating me Elsa," she whispered in a playful tone. "I haven't done that to you since we were little girls."

"I know, but you always sounded so adorable when you did!"

Anna rolled over to face the older girl. Elsa looked ready to go somewhere, dressed in her comfy aqua blue hoodie with navy blue sweatpants. Anna saw that she had already slid opened the glass door of their motel room. Their parents in the bed opposite them lay fast asleep, as evidenced by their Dad's obnoxious snoring.

"Does my responsible and mature big sister want us to sneak out?" Anna whispered with a devilish grin.

"Get dressed smarty pants. Your outfit is right there," Elsa pointed at the chair by the glass door.

 _ _Don't forget to grab the blanket for you and her__

This particular sneak out experience differed from the ones they pulled off as little girls. Their parents could catch them this time. Their mother possessed a keen perceptiveness of their whereabouts on family vacations. But, they weren't kids anymore. They were teenagers now. They knew better.

"Where do you want to go anyway?" Anna inquired as she put on her dark green hoodie and black sweats. "You don't turn 16 till next December." Elsa gave her the shush motion with her finger.

"I'll tell you when we're outside."

A small gust of wind blew by as they stepped onto the patio. Both girls put their hands over the mouths and turned to see if Mom and Dad woke up. They saw their mother turn over and pull the covers closer. Anna giggled in mischief as Elsa slid the door closed without a creak, the thick blanket in her left arm. She grabbed her younger sister's hand and they both darted off into the night.

 _ _This will be so much fun for you and Anna__

Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri is where they spent their July family vacation, and Elsa fell in love with the woods and the water. That particular day, the four of them rented a boat and drove to a spot on the lake with a sand dune shallow enough for them to get out and stand on their two feet. They'd spent all day on that lake and managed to avoid sun burn. But, Elsa hadn't gotten to do the one thing she wanted to do most: Drive the boat around.

"C'mon, c'mon!" Elsa exclaimed as she raced down the hill in front of Anna, her right hand still grabbed onto Anna's from behind. They made way for the boat dock.

 _ _Try not to draw attention to yourself__

"This is crazy," Anna muttered as the realization of her sister's risky plan dawned on her. "Elsa, we might get caught. The cops monitor this lake at night. We saw them earlier from our room, remember?"

 _ _Yeah, but since when does Anna care that much about safety anyway?__

The girls arrived on the dock next to their boat. Elsa turned around and shot her an assured smile. "The cops are on the other side of the lake, and our boat isn't that loud. We'll be fine." Anna gave her a look of concern mixed with excitement.

"Besides, there's a beautiful sight I saw last night that I want to show you. I noticed them after you all went to bed. Trust me, you'll love this!"

 _ _Dang right she will__

Anna hopped in as Elsa removed the rope from around the metal pole, then Elsa jumped in as they began to drift. The boat didn't have a seat for the driver, so both of them stood next to each other in front of the steering wheel. Anna put her hands on Elsa's shoulders, her grip tightened with fear.

"Alright, moment of truth," the older girl declared. The two girls grimaced as Elsa turned the engine. They hoped the initial burst wouldn't be so loud as to wake anyone up. A quiet, innocuous rumble ensued. They looked at each other.

 _ _You got this__

"And away...we...go!" Anna imitated as they glided across the lake into the cloudless night. She continued to stand next to Elsa as she drove. Anna put her right arm around the older girl's left arm and leaned against her with affection.

"I live for moments like this," Anna exclaimed.

Elsa looked to her left and gazed into her sister's eyes. She had a flashback of all the times they'd done this back home as they grew up in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. But they hadn't sneaked off on a vacation before, least of all a place where they could be caught. They both felt exhilarated.

"Do you remember that one winter when you led me into the backyard," Elsa reminisced, "and as we played around, we built that one snowman?" Anna sighed with content and closed her eyes as she lay against Elsa's shoulder.

"Remember what I called him?" the blonde girl asked.

"You called him Olaf," Anna said in an exaggerated tone. She moved her head back and forth as she mouthed the words. Both girls giggled.

"I miss those days," Anna continued. "When I would wake you up, you'd get annoyed at first, but then you'd always play with me." Her older sister smiled and closed her eyes for a split second. She remembered the fondness of her childhood.

 _ _Sometimes that seems like a lifetime ago__

Elsa drove their boat to the middle of the lake and headed for one of the thick spots of trees on the other side. The sky looked clear enough that they didn't have to turn on the headlight, which would have drawn the police to them. They reached the spot without trouble. The first initial lights flickered.

"I cherish these run away moments as much as you do Anna. That's the main reason I took you all the way out here." Anna hugged her arm. Elsa looked up. They came to a stop underneath the trees.

"And the other reason is..."

Anna looked up and gave a gasp of utter astonishment. The air above them lit up with yellow dots of light. Then more. They both thought about that cousin of theirs with the super long blonde hair, whose favorite site in the world looked like this.

 _ _Wow, what a treat__

"You would not believe your eyes," Elsa murmured.

"If 10 million fireflies," Anna chimed in.

"Lit up the world as I fell asleep," both sang in unison.

"Because they'd fill the open air, and leave teardrops everywhere. You'd think me rude, but I would just stand and..." the two sisters turned their heads to each other, "...stare!" Laughter ensued.

They sat down on the seats at the back and threw the blanket over themselves. The calm water caused the boat to drift in a gentle pace under the light show above their heads. Both girls snuggled up next to each other.

"Can we stay here forever and not go back?" Anna asked aloud as she twirled her thumb over Elsa's hand.

"Tell me about it," her big sister responded. For all the time at night that Elsa preferred to spend alone the last few years since she hit adolescence, in moments like these, she remembered what truly made her happy. All summer long, she made a concerted effort to spend more time with Anna, and this was the culmination. She kissed the younger girl on the forehead.

"I haven't outgrown you Anna," she whispered with affection, "and each time we sneak away like this, or have one of our late night talks, every moment is precious." Anna let out a sigh, which Elsa couldn't tell was a happy one or a melancholy one.

 _ _Probably both.__

"Even as we get older, you'll always be my best friend," she reassured her.

*WHEW WHEW*

"Shit," both girls exclaimed at once as they darted up and looked behind them. The dreaded sound of the police siren wailed under the horizon. Off in the distance, they saw the flash of red and blue lights.

 _ _Welp, you're in big trouble now__

"Wait...are they even headed towards us?" Anna asked. A cold chill of nerves shot up and down her spine.

Their panic vanished under a deep sense of relief as they saw the police boat move in a perpendicular direction towards another residential boat. It wasn't out to get them after all.

"They're not after us," Elsa said, to which Anna blew air out of her mouth as the fear of underage arrest dissipated. They took one last look above their heads at the light show from the fireflies.

"Lets go home." And with that, Elsa crept the boat out into the lake and took them back without a trace. Or so they thought.

* * *

"Aren't you girls too old for this stuff?" their father asked in an angry tone as the sisters arrived back up the hill. Their mother stood there too.

"Sorry," Elsa said with an innocent smile.

Her father continued to glare. The older girl sunk her head.

 _ _Looks like the innocent princess face won't save you this time.__

"Dad, c'mon," Anna interjected. "I'm the one who used to wake Elsa up all the time as kids. She wanted to show me the fireflies she saw last night on the other side of the lake, that's all!"

Their father remained silent.

"Honey, we're not mad you snuck off," their mother interjected. "We're upset that you stole the keys and took the boat - that doesn't even belong to you - out on the lake. You could have hit a reef or a sand dune and gotten in real danger!"

"We woke when we heard the police sirens and saw that you two disappeared," the man said, this time with concern in his voice. "The only reason we didn't call the police ourselves is because we saw your boat arrive at the dock when we stepped outside," he explained.

Elsa and Anna both stared at each other. The realization that they arrived back in the nick of time dawned on them.

 _ _Christ, they would have called the cops on us if we lolly gagged for even an extra five minutes__

"I'm so sorry Dad, we won't do that again," Elsa tried to assure him.

"I accept your apology dear, but when you almost get in trouble with law enforcement, and above all, when you scare us half to death, there have to be consequences," her father declared. "You're grounded from driving for the rest of the trip."

 _ _Whatever. The drive through Iowa bored you anyway. Besides, as if you wouldn't do that 10 million times again in order to make memories with Anna__

* * *

"I had a wonderful time," Anna whispered to her big sister as they both laid back in bed, their faces directed towards each other, hands locked together. The sun hadn't come up yet, so they tried to catch more sleep.

"Me too" Elsa replied. "Between this vacation and our conversations at night before going to bed, I've had such a fun summer with you, Anna."

Elsa felt the squeeze of her hands in response. "It's so odd, when you think about it," Anna said. "We used to stay up late and play together, now we stay up late and have talks together."

"I think they call that 'maturity' in the adult world," Elsa opined, which elicited giggles from them both.

"Well, proper conversation may be the mature thing to do, but sleeping in forever is still open to all ages." And with that comment, Anna gave her a kiss on the cheek and then rolled over to go back to bed. Within minutes, she fell into a deep sleep and snored almost as loud as their old man. Elsa, on the other hand, laid on her back, put her right arm on her forehead, smiled, and replayed the events of that night in her head.

 _ _You'll never have a near encounter with the police quite as dramatic as__ that __one.__

"Perhaps not," she said aloud to herself, then looked at the redhead girl next to her, fast asleep in a hilarious contorted position, drool forming on the side of her mouth. "But it won't matter as long as I have my sister."


End file.
